Dengue Staying through December in Deadliest Year

Another 49 people were hospitalised with dengue in 24 hours till Friday morning, reports UNB.

The total fatalities remained unchanged at 269 as no death was reported during this period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Of the new patients, 28 were admitted to the hospitals of Dhaka and 21 outside it, said DGHS.

A total of 774 dengue patients, including 451 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.

The DGHS has recorded 61,138 dengue cases and 60,095 recoveries so far this year.

The number of fatalities is 269, which is by far the highest ever recorded in a single year in Bangladesh, far outstripping the previous record of 179 deaths against 1,01,354 cases recorded in 2019.

That means a 50 per cent jump in the number of deaths, despite a 40 per cent decline in cases from 2019. 

The significantly increased case fatality rate could be down to the discovery of a new strain of the virus previously never spotted in Bangladesh, that DGHS scientists reported back in August.

Generally, it is seen that severe dengue disease is most common in those who suffer a second infection, usually by a different strain to the first. 

The chances of that naturally increase with the introduction of a new strain in the environment. There are four known strains of the dengue virus.